vtable for .. referenced from compile error xcode

Generically, this is the missing vtable problem: C++ FAQ Lite 23.10.

From the Internet Archive:

If you get a link error of the form "Error: Unresolved or undefined symbols detected: virtual table for class Fred," you probably have an undefined virtual member function in class Fred.

The compiler typically creates a magical data structure called the "virtual table" for classes that have virtual functions (this is how it handles dynamic binding). Normally you don't have to know about it at all. But if you forget to define a virtual function for class Fred, you will sometimes get this linker error.

Here's the nitty gritty: Many compilers put this magical "virtual table" in the compilation unit that defines the first non-inline virtual function in the class. Thus if the first non-inline virtual function in Fred is wilma(), the compiler will put Fred's virtual table in the same compilation unit where it sees Fred::wilma(). Unfortunately if you accidentally forget to define Fred::wilma(), rather than getting a Fred::wilma() is undefined, you may get a "Fred's virtual table is undefined". Sad but true.

The problem seemed to be that in the class MultiFormatUPCEANReader I had declared a constructor and destructor, but had not written a body for the destructor, this was causing this annoying problem. Hope this helps somebody solve their compile error. This is a terrible compiler error with little information!

In my case it was a defined pure virtual method in a base class which was declared but not implemented in a derived class (and more specifically the first virtual method in the vtable), e.g.:

class Base
{
public:
  virtual int foo() = 0;
  virtual int bar() = 0;
};

class Derived : public Base
{
public:
  Derived() {}
  ~Derived() {}

  virtual int foo(); // <-- causes this obscure linker error
  virtual int bar() {return 0;}
};